Confusion
by Torchwood246
Summary: Captain John Hart kidnaps Jack and brings Ianto back to life. But John has something else in store for Jack
1. Chapter 1

**Torchwood Fan Fiction**

 **Ianto**

I woke up not knowing where I was. The last thing I remember was being held by Jack and he was cry and saying that he wouldn't forget me. I remember realising that I was dying and that no one could stop it. How could I be alive? The room was bare and cold, like a hospital and I was lying on what looked like a surgery table which was long and white with bare legs. However there was a metallic smell in the air that made me think that perhaps this was not a hospital after all. I looked in front of me and gasped when I saw bags of blood hanging on a metal rack like clothes. That was what the smell was. Where was I?

I then felt something on my head and someone standing right behind me. I twisted round and saw Captain John Hart wearing the metal glove that was on my head. I sat up and twisted round to face him.

"What the hell? Is that the resurrection gauntlet?" I wondered, looking at his hand.

"Hello eye candy, how are you feeling? I can't believe you called this thing a resurrection gauntlet, such a stupid name" Captain John Hart said with his infuriating smile.

"What have you done?" I asked.

"That's no way to talk to the person who brought you back to life" he replied.

"What!"

"You heard me, I brought you back to life"

"Why?"

"Because where Jack is going... I wanted to give him some consolation"

"Where are you taking him?" I asked.

"You don't want to know, I'm sorry" he said and he lunged towards me and injected something into my neck and I began to feel drowsy.

"Ianto" A weak voice called from beside me. It was filled with pain but I recognised it anyway. I turned towards it and almost threw up. Jack was covered in blood, his clothes were torn to shreds from stab wounds. Then I blacked out.

 **The day before...**

 **Jack**

I was sorting out some papers when my vortex manipulator beeped. I remembered what happened last time this happened and I shuddered. I opened it up and just like last time Captain John Hart appeared.

"Hi Jack, I'm sorry, but I have someone you might want" and he pressed his wrist strap and the body of Ianto Jones appeared "I can bring him back, I have something that will help, but only if you agree to come with me somewhere. Alone. Don't bring any of your little friends or tell them where you going, or else. And don't think that I won't know if you do. I'm in an abandoned hospital two streets away, hurry up." There was nothing else to do but run.

I entered the hospital and there was John Hart sitting beside two surgery tables, one with Ianto on, there was a strange machine next to him and blood bags hanging up on a metal rack. Captain John Hart turned and came towards me with a strange look on his face. He gave me a hug and whispered in my ear "I'm sorry" and took out a large knife and plunged it into my chest.

 **Ianto**

"Ianto, Ianto" someone said, standing over me. I opened my eyes and saw Gwen and a dark skinned man standing over me.

"Hey Ianto, this is Rex, he is the newest Torchwood member" Gwen introduced to me.

"Jack, he's in trouble" I explained "Captain John Hart, he took Jack, he stabbed him"

"Ok, we'll find him, let's get you up and find out where he is" Gwen smiled and held out her hand for me to get up.

We entered the newly rebuilt hub and I asked about what had happened since I died as I had begun to feel that Rex had replaced me. Gwen told me about how they saved the children and how guilty Jack had felt at his grandsons death. She then told me about miracle day and how they met Rex and how Jack became mortal. I couldn't believe that Gwen let Jack and Rex almost die as they let their blood into the blessing. However, bigger problems were at stake.

We decided to look at the CCTV around where they found me and we saw a man that looked similar to Captain John Hart arriving in a range rover and leaving me on the roadside. We then traced the range rover to an abandoned hospital which matched what I remembered of the place.

When we arrived I was pretty certain that it was where I woke up the first time. We got out our guns and entered the building. After searching the first few rooms we entered the room that I woke up in and there was Jack and Captain John Hart. They were kissing.

"Jack what the hell?" Rex asked incredulously.

They broke apart and Jack answered "Who are you?"

"This is the Torchwood team I told you about, you need to leave" Captain John Hart explained.

"Your not taking him anywhere" I said.

"Why do you care?" Jack asked.

"You promised not to forget me, do you really not remember us? Any of us?" I wondered.

I was angry and I came towards him, not meaning to do anything but he shrank away from me and it was then that I realised that he genuinely did not remember me. Then John stepped towards him and pulled up his sleeve with his vortex manipulator on and said "Let's go" and he pressed a button and they disappeared.

"Shit, where did they go?" Gwen exclaimed.

 **Jack**

I was a bit confused as to John's reaction to the Torchwood team. He wouldn't even tell me who they were. I began to think that he was hiding something. We were staying at a hotel and so when he went outside to get us some drinks I took the opportunity to have a look around. When at first I didn't find anything I decided to have a look at his computer. I realised that he was tracking three people via CCTV and by looking at their faces it didn't take me long to realise that they were the Torchwood team who visited us the other day. I couldn't help thinking that I had seen them before. Quite a few times before. However I decided that I would investigate more before talking to John. I couldn't get the faces of the Torchwood team out of my head.

Over the next few days more and more memories came back, memories of working with them and fighting aliens that threaten the earth. I also found some retcon when I had a look in Captain John Hart's coat which he was wearing when I had a search the other day. However one day I remembered going to meet John and him stabbing me in the chest. I decided that I had to get away from him and find Ianto, Gwen and Rex.

I used my vortex manipulator to teleport to the Torchwood hub. However no one was there because it was the end of the day. I decided to pay a visit to Ianto's apartment. I knocked on the door and and when Ianto opened it he looked confused but his face lit up when he saw me.

"Jack" he said, a smile coming to his face.

"Ianto, I'm so sorry, Captain John Hart gave me retcon. I completely forgot about Torchwood." I explained.

"You promised not to forget me" he replied.

"I know but it wasn't my fault" I answered.

Ianto sighed and said "Ok, your forgiven" and I stepped forward and hugged him "It's good to have you back sir"

"Don't call me sir" I replied and we spent the night together.

However the next morning we both went to work however Gwen didn't turn up for work, when we phoned Rhys and he said that he had left for work over two hours ago we began to get worried. However half an hour later my vortex manipulator beeped again. This time I more or less knew what to expect.

"Ok I'm sorry Jack but by running away you forced me to do this. As you have probably worked out by now I have Gwen Cooper and if you do not meet me at the restaurant in the hotel when we last met I will kill her" Captain John Hart said with an annoying grin.

"Oh God" Ianto said.

"I have to go" I replied.

"What!" Ianto exclaimed "No way"

"I can't let her die, she has a child, also we need to find out what he wants with me, I will bring a gun" I explained.

"But it's too dangerous" Ianto declared.

I just looked at him and walked out the door. Ianto didn't bother trying to stop me.

I arrived at the hotel with my gun hidden in my coat and I saw him outside, waiting for me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

 **I have updated this chapter because there was one part that I forgot to include.**

 **Jack**

"Jack, I knew you would come, you're so sentimental" he said. He held out his hand and I knew that he meant my wrist strap. He knew I had it and it was not easy to hide. I handed it over, my only means of escape gone.

"Let her go, I'm here now, you can let her go" I replied.

"I'm sorry but you're too late" he answered with a trace of a smile on his face.

"What do you mean" I said icily, my blood going cold.

"Gwen's dead" he explained.

"But you said..." I began but he interrupted me.

"You took too long, and I'm not stupid I know that you've got a gun in your coat" he replied and I knew that my only weapon was useless as he had one too.

"Can I see her? I won't believe that she's dead until I have proof" I decided but Captain John just shook his head and replied "You can see her but she's nothing more than a pile of ash"

Captain John went to a small draw and took out a small metal container and gave it to me. I looked inside and it was filled with ash.

"You burnt her alive?" I said incredulously. I knew he was cruel but I did not think that he would go to these lengths.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"You, they offered me my freedom if I delivered you" he explained and hung his head.

"Who did?" I questioned.

"The Marakesh" he replied and I froze in terror. They were the creatures who invaded my home when I was a kid. They kidnapped people and made them work until they died of exhaustion or whipped them to death for not trying hard enough. I could see why they would want me, someone who they would never have to replace.

"No way, you are not taking me to them" I explained.

"I'm sorry but if you don't I will have to take one of your friends instead. Mabye Rex? Or Ianto?

"No way, leave them alone, if you leave them alone I'll go without complaint" I bargained "But first, I want to say goodbye to everyone, and I need to tell Rhys about Gwen"

"No" He said and I knew then that I'd seen Ianto for the last time.

"Will you at least let me leave letters for them here" I asked.

"Oh my god you're so sentimental, let's go" he said.

He grabbed my wrist and tapped in some co-ordinates into his vortex manipulator and I left planet earth for the last time. However I hadn't noticed that he'd left a letter and some white pills on the table along with Gwen's ashes.

 **Ianto**

"Where the hell is he?" I asked, pacing the hub with worry.

"I'm sure they're both fine, if they don't come back within the hour then we will go to the hospital and investigate" Rex suggested, trying to calm me.

Waiting an hour was torture, not knowing what had happened. As soon as it was up we were off and out the door. However when we got to the hospital there was no sign of life or any sign of habitation at all, except for a letter laying on the table in the surgery room along with some retcon pills and a small metal pot.

"This is bad" I remarked, knowing that the letter could not hold anything but bad news.

"You don't know that, let's read it first" Rex suggested.

I walked over to the table and opened the letter and read it, and my heart broke in two.

 _Dear Ianto and Rex_

 _I have decided that Torchwood should be no more. Gwen's dead and it's finally made me realise that I can't face sending my friends into danger anymore. I am going to travel and run away from the things I've done on earth that I regret. I hate it but I am going to have to take retcon to forget about it all. I can't deal with it. I have left some for you both in case you want to do the same thing. I won't come back. Captain John has disappeared. He just left these ashes on the table._

 _Jack_

When Rex saw that I was crying he ran over and read it. I picked up the pot and it said on the side "Gwen". Inside were human ashes. It was obvious who's they were. Rex had by this time read the letter and had seen what I was holding and has worked out what it was. His face suddenly went serious.

"He might not have written it, Captain John might have kidnapped him and left it here to explain his absence. I mean, his friends have died before" Rex suggested and wiped away a tear.

"No its Jack's writing, I've seen it enough times" I told him, my eyes welling up again.

"It could have been forced" He suggested in vain. But we both knew, the handwriting was in no way forced. Jack had written this letter of his own free will. I couldn't help thinking that mabye I was one of the things he regretted. I know that he had gone travelling before but he hadn't said so explicitly that he wouldn't come back. He also said goodbye to Gwen. Mabye we weren't as important to him.

"I'm going to take the retcon" I decided.

"No, wait and see if he comes back, he did before remember?" Rex pleaded.

"A week, that's all I can wait. I can't deal with this. If he did write this letter it's because he isn't coming wouldn't have told us to take retcon if he was coming back. He's trying to save us pain. I'll wait a week and that's it. Last time he was away for only a few days. I don't think I can live with the fact that John forced him to leave us and that I couldn't stop it" I replied.

"It wasn't our fault, he just took off" Rex argued.

"Yeah but the letter also showed how little he cared for us" I answered, but what I really was thing was that I had just been his part time shag for years.

 **Jack**

We materialized in at the foot of a huge statue where hundreds of people were working. They all had whip marks on their backs and looked half dead from exhaustion. Surrounding them were large blue creatures with what looked like knifes instead of hands and huge sharp teeth and round, bald head, and human like bodies. One of them noticed them and came over and said to them in English "The immortal I presume" and John nodded.

"You are free to go John, but if you ever come near here again or try to rescue your friend, then we will kill you" the creature replied. From the look on John's face I knew that if I was ever to be rescued, it would not be by him.

The Marakesh creature turned to me and told me to get to work and I joined the line of slaves, knowing that I might never leave it.

 **Chapter Three**

 **Ianto**

During the week after Jack had disappeared Torchwood basically shut down, as there was no way that me and Rex could do all the work by ourselves. Half the stuff we didn't even know what it was. The only time I left my house was to deliver the worst news that I have ever had to give in my entire life. The news that Gwen was dead had to be known by Rhys. Rex and I went to his house together to tell him.

When he opened the door he looked confused, then it dawned on him that there were few reasons as to why we would go to his house without Gwen.

"Oh god, what is it?" He asked "where's Gwen?"

Then he recognized me and said "Ianto, I thought you were dead?"

"I was" I replied "I'm sorry but we have some bad news" I looked at Rex.

"I'm sorry but we came here to tell you that…Gwen's dead" he finished and Rhys' face went from shocked to sad then to angry and then to stern.

"I knew that Torchwood would be the death of her, ever since I first found out about it. What happened?" he asked angrily.

We went inside and told him what happened and about Gwen's horrible death.

"So it's Jacks fault that she was burnt alive!" Rhys seethed "I knew it, of course it would be him"

"It wasn't his fault, he did everything he could to save her" I pleaded.

"Well it wasn't good enough!" Rhys replied and then told us to leave and that if we ever came near him again we would regret it.

The rest of the week went by slowly. Of course it did. I couldn't wait to get rid of the pain. I had lost so much, so many friends and lovers. Lisa, Tosh, Owen, and now Gwen and Jack. Did everyone I care about have to die or leave me?

Over the week I prepared for my new life with no memory of Torchwood. I changed my name and wrote a diary to explain why I had lost years of my memory.

It was time I forgot about Torchwood.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you so much for continuing to read my story. I should have some more chapters written in a few days. Please comment on what you think and feel free to share any ideas for where the story can go from here.**

 **Chapter Three**

 **Ianto**

During the week after Jack had disappeared Torchwood basically shut down, as there was no way that me and Rex could do all the work by ourselves. Half the stuff we didn't even know what it was. The only time I left my house was to deliver the worst news that I have ever had to give in my entire life. The news that Gwen was dead had to be known by Rhys. Rex and I went to his house together to tell him.

When he opened the door he looked confused, then it dawned on him that there were few reasons as to why we would go to his house without Gwen.

"Oh god, what is it?" He asked "where's Gwen?"

Then he recognized me and said "Ianto, I thought you were dead?"

"I was" I replied "I'm sorry but we have some bad news" I looked at Rex.

"I'm sorry but we came here to tell you that…Gwen's dead" he finished and Rhys' face went from shocked to sad then to angry and then to stern.

"I knew that Torchwood would be the death of her, ever since I first found out about it. What happened?" he asked angrily.

We went inside and told him what happened and about Gwen's horrible death.

"So it's Jacks fault that she was burnt alive!" Rhys argued "I knew it, of course it would be him"

"It wasn't his fault, he did everything he could to save her" I pleaded.

"Well it wasn't good enough! Because now Anwen will have to grow up without a mother" Rhys replied and then told us to leave and that if we ever came near him again we would regret it.

The rest of the week went by slowly. Of course it did. I couldn't wait to get rid of the pain. I had lost so much, so many friends and lovers. Lisa, Tosh, Owen, and now Gwen and Jack. Did everyone I care about have to die or leave me?

Over the week I prepared for my new life with no memory of Torchwood. I bought a new house and car and I deliberately avoided all cameras in case Rex tried to find me. I also moved all my bank accounts as well as many were under Torchwood. I didn't want anything that could remind me of him.

 **A week earlier**

 **Gwen**

I walked outside my house, having just said goodbye to Rhys and Anwen, when something hit me on the back of the head and I blacked out.

When I woke up a tall figure was standing over me. When my eyes focused I saw that it was Captain John Hart. We were standing in a huge chamber with nothing I it except pipes and circles around the walls. This was when I started panicking as it looked like the module where they burnt people during miracle day. Thinking that brought on an onslaught of bad memories.

"Hello beautiful, how are you" John asked with an innocent grin. I instantly reached out and punched him for knocking me out.

"Hey, hey, don't be so violent it's not good for you" he replied, holding his nose as I had made it bleed.

"What do you want?" I asked, knowing that whatever it was it would be bad.

"I need Jack, that's all, and by threatening you I know that he will come" he replied.

This made me feel guilty as this was not the first time that Jack had been manipulated by others into doing something. Especially when it was me, planning to hand him over to get my family back. I don't know if he has ever forgiven me. Then I thought, what if he doesn't come and lets me die?

"What do you want Jack for?" I asked but John just tapped his nose and said "for me to know and you…to never find out"

He then turned around and left, locking the door behind him. Then the flames started. Panicking, I ran to the door and banged against it, even though I knew it was useless. No one had visited the old overflow camps for ages. My clothes caught fire and the pain brought me to the ground. Just as I was blacking out, I heard voices outside the door.

I woke up inside a hospital with two nurses standing over me.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Don't you remember? Someone tried to burn you in one of those module things that they built for the overflow camps" one of the nurses explained.

"Yes, I remember that, but how did I escape?" I wondered.

"You were lucky, some men had come to look around to see about using the facility again. As an army base of course, I can't imagine that those horrible camps would be set up again" the other nurse explained.

A week later I was out of hospital. It had taken a while as I had severe burns all over my body and my face was scarred. The first thing I had to do was to stand down the police as they wanted to investigate who had put me in there. However after I had done that I just wanted to go home.

When Rhys opened the door I could see the look of shock on his face. First of all because he had presumably been told that I was dead, and second of all, because of the scars he noticed on my face.

"Oh my god, Gwen, what happened, we were told you were dead!" he cried and stepped forward and hugged me and kissed me. I then noticed that he was crying.

"Never do that to me again" he said and I promised that I wouldn't, beginning to cry myself now.

Once I had said hello to Anwen I told Rhys what happened and in turn he told me what was happening back at the hub and I felt a huge amount of guilt that Jack had disappeared because of me. I instantly wanted to drive to the Rex and Ianto's houses and tell them that I was alive and tell them to find Jack.

 **Rex**

I knew something was up when there was a knock at the door. Hardly anyone did that. Anyone who works at Torchwood doesn't have many friends. However I went over and opened it and I was shocked to see who it was. The first thing I noticed were the burn marks on her face and that prompted me to ask her what happened.

"People found me before I died, I got lucky" she explained.

She then asked what Ianto and I were going to do and when I told her that Ianto was going to take the retcon she got up and said that we had to stop him. I agreed but I told her that it was probably too late

 **Ianto**

I woke up and had no idea where I was. The Apartment I was in was completely unfamiliar to me. However on the table I could see a letter which said "Ianto" on it alongside a small notebook. That was one thing I remembered at least, my name. I went over and opened it to see if it would explain the strange situation I was in.

 _Ianto_

 _You probably won't remember what happened. You were in a car crash and you lost your memory. I made sure that I left this letter and the diary out every evening in case of amnesia ever since the crash because the doctors had said that it was very likely to happen. The diary will explain a bit about what has happened over the last few years. But here are a few things that you need to do now._

 _1._ _Get a job – In the diary you will see that unfortunately our last place of work was closed down because of lack of funding_

 _2._ _Sell old apartment – After the crash I decided that I wanted a new place to live away from the memories of happier times. Don't go back there too often though._

 _3._ _Also, you changed your name to Thomas Jackson_

I couldn't believe what I was reading. Me in a car crash? Why would I change my name? I read the diary but I couldn't remember most of what had happened in it. Losing a girlfriend, losing my job as a receptionist. None of it seemed real though. It made me begin to believe that there was something wrong. Also the way that I had written not to go back to my apartment too often made me suspicious.

 **Gwen**

Rex and I ran to the car and rove as fast as possible to Ianto's apartment. Rex had shown me the letter and I couldn't believe that Jack would retcon himself because of me. I knew that he had some feelings for me but he had more for Ianto and I knew that he would never voluntarily leave him.

However when we got there the house was deserted. Nothing to show where he had gone or whether he had retconned himself yet however I took the emptiness as a sign that he had. The only things left was some of the old furniture. We then went back to the hub and began searching for him but Ianto Jones seemed to have disappeared without a trace. Even his bank accounts had been cleared out.

"This guy is good at disappearing" Rex commented when he saw what Ianto had done to avoid being followed. He had even avoided the CCTV cameras near his house when he left. We had no way of tracing him. I knew that it was all my fault. The fact that Jack had supposedly left for good because of my death suggested that he loved me more than him which I knew not to be true.

"It's all my fault, I should have been more careful" I cried.

"No it isn't. Ianto made his own decision" Rex comforted me.

We decided to keep up the search on Ianto for two months and then if we had not heard from him by then we would leave him alone to his new life. We even contacted the estate agent that was selling his apartment, planning to pose as buyers however they realized that it would be the landlord selling the apartment and not Ianto so it would be worthless. They did enquire as to where the previous occupant was now living but the estate agent said that she could not release that information.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi, I've managed to write another chapter. I should be able to publish another one in a few days. Please, please review and tell me what you think. And if you find any spelling or grammar mistakes please let me know.**

 **Chapter 4**

 **One month later**

 **Jack**

As I slowly walked back towards the statue I knew that I would die soon. I had seen other people around drop dead from exhaustion after spending ages with hardly any food and water and sleep and I was feeling the effects of the whip the creatures used when I wasn't moving fast enough. It would make sense, the average life expectancy for a slave here was about a month. After another few minutes and I keeled over, getting a whip for stopping. I got up but I could only manage another few paces until I fell over again and blacked out.

 **Ianto**

A month after I woke up without any memories and I was doing very well. I had a new job as a receptionist and had settled into my new apartment. I had not been back to my old apartment yet as I was too scared, but I knew that I would have to at some point as I knew that my curiosity would make me go there at least once because of what the letter said.

One day I was walking in the park and I saw a grey blue car pass on the road and suddenly the face of a man with grey blue eyes appeared in my mind. Who was it? Someone from my past? The face brought with it a feeling of deep sadness so I decided not to think about it. There was a very sad memory connected with this man and I didn't want to know what it was.

 **Gwen**

"Rex!" I called "You'd better come and look at this?"

Rex came over as fast as he could and looked over my shoulder and gasped when he saw what I had noticed. A photo in yesterday's newspaper detailing plans for the development of the outskirts of Cardiff, showed a confused looking Ianto in the corner.

"He's still in Cardiff" Rex realized.

"Well that's good news, we thought that he could be anywhere but now we know that he hasn't gone as far as we thought he had" I replied, cheering a little at the thought of finding Ianto.

"I'm sorry but only have proof that he was in Cardiff yesterday, not that he's living here. He could have come to visit his sister for all we know" Rex replied and all my hope disappeared.

"Should we ask her?" I suggested.

"If you want to but we would then have to explain to her what happened and I don't think that she would be very happy" Rex said and I knew that it was useless.

"I really thought that I had found something" I said.

Just then the cog wheel opened and in walked Captain John Hart. Rex and I immediately got our guns and pointed them at him.

"Where's Jack?" I asked and then I noticed that he was wearing Jack's wrist strap as well as his own "What have you done to him?"

"I'm sorry, I only came to return this" he replied and took off the wrist strap and left it on the table.

"But where's Jack?" I asked again.

"A place you never want to find out" he said and by his serious expression I could tell that he was telling the truth.

"But why did you do it? Why bring back Ianto and just take Jack somewhere else?" I wondered.

"He took my place somewhere I never want to be" he said and with that he disappeared.

"Oh my god, who knows what's happening to Jack right now" I cried.

We decided to try and use his vortex manipulator to trace where it had been but neither me or Rex has Tosh or Jack's power with technology and our equipment was not designed for looking at other planets.

 **A month later**

 **Rex**

Two months had passed since Ianto had disappeared and we were no closer to finding him than we were two months ago. I came in to the hub and went up to Gwen.

"I think that we ought to stop, he's been gone two months. Don't you think we should just leave him be?" I suggested.

Gwen's shoulders sagged as he said this and she replied "I suppose you're right. It's time to leave him alone".

After that we both went home and Torchwood three was no more.

 **Ianto**

I had finally got my life back on track. My job was going very well and I had even gone on a date with one of my co-workers who was pretty and charming. I had made many friends but whatever happened I kept wishing that I could know what had happened during my past even if it wasn't good. When I told people they were really nice, not pitying me but helping me. Sarah, who I had gone out on a date with, even helped me with trying to find out. But there was nothing that I could find. There wasn't even a newspaper article about the car crash. I had to face the fact that not everything in the diary was true. Had my life been so bad that there were things I had to hide from myself?

 **Ten months later**

 **Jack**

I gasped for air and came back to consciousness. I stretched and stood up. This was the fifteenth time I'd died since I came here. Each time was worse than the last and I was dying more frequently. My body ached with exhaustion and was broken by whip marks. One year and I was already hoping that I wouldn't revive the next time I died. I knew then that I couldn't accept that I would spent eternity doing this. I decided to look for an escape.

First of all I tried the simple running away when I neared the least guarded entrance and exit to the construction site. I ran as fast as I could in the weak condition that I was in. But the guard's guns easily took me down and I blacked out knowing that I would be in trouble when I woke up.

And I was. When I woke up I was brutally whipped then assigned to a group of slaves doing longer and more arduous hours than before. By trying to escape I had made things worse for myself. But I couldn't give up unless I wanted to be here for eternity. Ever living, ever dying. Never healing from my wounds. Remembering all that I had left behind.

I had noticed a long time ago that the building which looked like a teleport room was unguarded for five minutes every day while the guards went to get drinks from the drinks bar the other side of the statue. I carefully monitored it for a few days every time I passed it until I could work out the least amount of time it would take for the two guards to get drinks. I would have two minutes to prime the teleport and get out. However there were other creatures around me who would notice that I'd gone. Then I realised that if I collapsed right next to the teleport building and pretended to die they would automatically assume that it would be five minutes until I revived. They would leave me and come back in a few minutes. A few minutes would be all I needed.

A few days later I put my plan into action. When we passed by the teleport building I saw that the two guards were gone and I fell over and pretended to go slack and die. I held my breath, praying that they would leave before I ran out. A few seconds later they were out of sight and I got up and rushed inside the building. It was quite dark but I could see the purple teleport pod quite easily. I looked around to try and find the part where the co-ordinates were set. I knew I was taking too long. They would be back in a minute. Where was it? I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the little blue panel. I set the co-ordinates for Ianto's apartment. He was the one I wanted to see first when I got back. Just then the guards arrived back and I rushed to the teleport and disappeared just in time. It was then that I realised that I had not removed the co-ordinates from the teleport history. They could follow me.

 **Ianto**

I held my breath when I entered the apartment, expecting an onslaught of bad memories, but nothing happened. Why had I told myself to stay away? Why had I moved in the first place?

Suddenly there was a loud bang and I was not alone in the room. A man wearing ragged clothes that looked like they hadn't been washed in weeks and he was covered in what looked like whip lashes. I could clearly see that he was in pain. It wasn't until I looked at his face that I realised. He was the man whose face I'd been remembering. He turned towards me and his face lit up. I guessed that he had recognised me.

"Ianto" he said "I need your help"

"Who are you?" I asked "How do you know my name?"

Confusion flashed across his face and then shock.

"What do you mean? What's happened?" he replied, stunned.

"I don't know. All I know is that I woke up a few months ago with no memories"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Jack**

When Ianto said that my heart went cold. He wouldn't have taken retcon just because I disappeared. I mean, I'd done it before. However I realised then that by not deleting the co-ordinates, they could be arriving any minute. I had to protect Ianto.

"I know that you don't know me but you need to leave, like now, please" I told him.

"Why what's happening?" he asked as I dragged him to the door.

"Someone is coming here and they aren't nice. You need to get in your car and leave." I told him, and I relaxed when he did as I said. It was then that I noticed that the apartment was mostly empty. He must have moved house when he retconned himself. But why had he retconned himself?

I then decided that to make sure that earth was completely safe and to punish the Marakesh I would have to blow up the whole construction site. However it would mean that the slaves would die as well. I deliberated the ethics of what I was planning to do. If I don't do it then I leave the slaves to suffer as blowing up the statue is the only way to stop the Marakesh. The only way to kill a Marakesh is to break them into lots of pieces and burn them. But if I do then I will be ending a lot of innocent lives. However I then thought that maybe killing the slaves would be the best thing as it would put them out of their misery. I decided to do it, even though it meant going back to a place where I'd spent one of the worst years of my life. Except for maybe being buried alive for quite a few. I'd had quite a few bad years, but this had definitely been among the worst of them.

I closed the door to the apartment and took several buses to the hub. I was surprised to find no one there but I knew I had to be quick. That was when I realised that I had no way of going back. Unless I waited in Ianto's apartment and gave myself up when they came to search for me. Before anything bad happened. I ran to the alien archives as time was now of the essence as the Marakesh could be arriving any minute. It only takes half an hour for that kind of teleport to recharge.

I entered the archives and pulled out the first bomb-like weapon I could find. It was surprisingly easy, however the first one I found was too big to conceal but I soon found a smaller one and hid it in my coat. I then raced back to Ianto's apartment and the fact that there was only one burn mark where I had come through on the teleport. I assumed that the Marakesh had not come through yet.

I sat and waited for five minutes and then they appeared and instantly handcuffed me. They were about to go out the door to find some more hostages but I managed to stop them by promising not to run away again. Then we were transported back and I shivered. I thought of Ianto and I wondered why he had retconned himself. I regretted not memorising the number plate so that I could trace him when I got back.

 **Ianto**

Five minutes after I had left I regretted letting go of the possibility of getting some more information about what had really happened during the last few years. I was just getting ready to turn around at the earliest opportunity when I remembered that there was a reason that I had told myself not to go back too often. I decided that what happened in the past should stay hidden. Despite this I just couldn't get image of that man out of my mind. I felt…worried. I suddenly realised that he could be a friend. I remembered the hurt look on his face when I said that I didn't know him. I suddenly felt guilty. The next day I visited Sarah and told her what had happened.

"Who do you think had happened to him?" she asked.

"I would guess that he'd been whipped from the looks of it" I replied.

"You said that he just appeared out of thin air, how is that possible?" she wondered.

"I don't know, but one minute there was nothing and then suddenly there he was" I explained.

We talked about it a bit more and then decided that considering the fact that my diary told me not to go back and that the man was probably gone by now.

 **Jack**

When we arrived I suddenly thought of a flaw in my plan. I wouldn't be able to get back to earth if I stayed in the explosion. It wouldn't kill me but I'd wake up and be stuck here. I didn't want that. However I then thought that if I set the teleport to leave just as I press the button then I should escape the explosion. If I could get it accurate. This time it was easier to sneak into the teleport room as the guards had left to help sort out another escaping prisoner and for some reason none of the other guards noticed that I had gone.

As soon as I set the teleport I set up the bomb and pressed the button and everything around me exploded into flames. I looked at the timer on the teleport. I'd set it a fraction of a second too late. I just hoped that it worked before the flames got to it. Then I blanked out.

 **Ianto**

I was half way through a sci-fi movie when it happened. A memory of a silver building with a strange creature flying around by the ceiling. Somehow I knew that it was a Pterodactyl. The man from the day before was there along with two others. A woman with dark hair and a dark-skinned guy.

A few days later I remember joining an organisation called Torchwood. I subsequently remember the battle of Canary wolf and I remember trying to save Lisa. I recollect her dying in a cellar in a building I remember being called the hub. I then remember working for Torchwood three. I remember his name, Jack. I was surprised when I realised that I had started a relationship with him and I begin to wonder what happened as I was clearly not in a car crash. However soon the memories of a year ago began coming back and I realised why I had taken the retcon. But now I realised that Jack must have found a way back to earth. I then remembered the state he had been in and was filled with horror that no one knew except me. However I hadn't done anything because I had wiped my memory and didn't recognise him. How stupid I had been.

I knew that he had probably gone somewhere else by now but I ran to the car and raced back to my apartment. I noticed that there were three burn marks on the floor. I remembered that one had been made when Jack appeared but when had the others appeared. I had a sudden fear that Jack had returned to wherever he had escaped from.

Suddenly a mass of bloodied flesh appeared on the floor and I rushed over. The stench was overbearing but I went over anyway. The body was mangled and burnt but I would recognise those eyes anywhere. It was Jack, I then noticed that the body was repairing itself. Definitely Jack. I then thought about the pain he must be going through and I decided that even though he had abandoned us I would stay with him, at least until he woke up. When he did, I almost changed my mind. He woke up too soon. The pain in his eyes was evident, even without the screaming. His voice pierced the room and broke my heart into a million pieces. There was nothing I could do. I then decided that it was time to get some help. I had to call someone. But who? I couldn't call Sarah. I didn't have a number for Rex and Gwen was dead. I then decided that my only option was to call Rhys. It only took me a few seconds to remember the number. The blessing of having a photographic memory

"Hello?" he answered "who is this?"

"It's me, Ianto. I know you probably don't want to talk to me at the moment" I began but I was interrupted by his gasp and reply.

"Oh my god! I'd better pass you to Gwen." He said and I heard him calling Gwen from another room.

"But…I thought that Gwen was dead" I started but then I was interrupted again.

"Ianto, are you there? Where are you?" she said.

"I'm in my old apartment, with Jack, I can't explain now but I need you to come here as soon as possible with some painkillers" I told her.

"Are you ok?" She wondered.

"Yeah I'm fine, it's Jack" I said and I cut off the call.

"Ianto, what are you doing here?" Jack called out, his voice filled with pain.

"Shush, Gwen's coming with some painkillers. The pain will go in a few minutes." I said and he closed his eyes.

Never before had I witnessed such pain on Jack's face. It was killing me that there was not much I could do.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **Ianto**

Soon afterwards Gwen arrived and I explained what had happened. One look at the pain on Jacks face and she administered the painkiller. Enough to make him unconscious. It was the kindest thing to do. Then the only thing to do was wait. Two days it took before he woke up. Every second of it was painful as I wanted to save him from as much pain as possible. Gwen bailed out after a few hours as she couldn't stand watching it. I didn't blame her but I didn't want Jack to wake up alone so I stayed. I only slept for a few hours as I didn't want to miss him waking up. However I had to love him every so often to go to loo. I asked Gwen and Rex to bring me food and water.

When he woke up there was such terror in his eyes. He looked around and his eyes fixed on me. Jack had never told me of the pain and terror he experienced when he came back to life. But I could see it clearly now.

"It's ok" I said "you're safe".

Slowly he relaxed and closed his eyes. A few minutes later he had healed enough for him to sit up.

"Jack, what happened? You have a lot of explaining to do" I said.

Jack then explained what had really happened when he went to try and save Gwen. He told me where he had been taken and I gasped in horror. When he told me that John had threatened to take me and Rex with him and that he had offered to give no resistance if he didn't I realised what an idiot I had been.

"Now you have to explain why the hell you took retcon" he said and the hurt and betrayal in his voice stung me.

"Surely you know? It was you that told me to?" I replied and the look of confusion of his face made my heart go cold. He hadn't written the letter. What an idiot I had been.

"What letter?" Jack asked.

"I'm sorry. I believed that you had written it. It was your handwriting I was sure. There was a letter left at the hospital when we went there after you had disappeared" I explained.

"What did it say?" he questioned and I looked down, embarrassed. I could not believe that I actually believed it.

"It said that you were leaving and shutting down Torchwood as you had lost so many friends and that you did not want anything else to happen. Here Gwen brought it to me when you were asleep" I replied and handed it over. I could tell from his face that he understood. But the look of hurt and betrayal stayed there.

"How could you believe that I would do this to you?" he asked me with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I was stupid. I know now that it was not true. I should not have retconned myself" I replied and I went over and gave him a hug.

"Never do that to me again" he said and I promised that I would not.

It took him a few more days to heal completely but afterwards Torchwood was soon back to work. Everything went back to normal and I was glad of it. After a few days I got a voicemail from Sarah, saying that she had been round to my flat and that she was worried as I was not answering. I felt so bad but I left a voicemail saying that I was sorry but I had my old life back and that we couldn't be together anymore. I decided to return to my old flat and sell the new one as it was not very good anyway. However one thing that I was glad about was that Jack had forgiven me for retconning myself.

"You know there was one thing that we could never work out" I said a few weeks afterwards "We never found out how and why John brought me back to life. I know he used the resurrection gauntlet but why did I stay alive?" I then noticed that Jack had a strange look on his face.

"What?" I asked.

"I think that he was trying to make it up because he knows that I love you. But making you retcon yourself just made it worse." He answered.

"Ok, I see that. But how then?" I replied.

"You remember that I was all cut up and stuff when you awoke" he said and I winced at the memory.

"I think he might have used my blood to do it. But then that means…" he started and then I saw a look that somehow mad a mixture of happiness and terror. I thought about it and I realised why. If I had been brought back by Jack's blood. Then that means that I might be immortal like Jack and Rex.

"Oh my god" I said "do you really think…" and Jack nodded.

"I'm sorry" Jack said.

"What for?" I asked.

"Being immortal isn't all it's made out to be" he answered "It hurts, coming back from the dead"

"I know, but now you won't be alone" I replied.


End file.
